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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsChristiane Amanpour interview with President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, 3/7/14
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Source: CNN
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MADURO: I think that we need is cooperation. Cooperation. Venezuelans have a long history. So we are able to listen to each other, to talk to each other. From here were born the liberators of the region, and they said before and after that process we have a culture of political action. We are not in despair. Thats the image broadcast to abroad. To try to hit morally a revolution that we are conducting in favour of the poor, of the workers, of the disenfranchised, a revolution that has given public education, free education, good at all levels. You can go to the streets and you find children in the free schools, universities, young people they dont have to ask for loans to go to the universities to study engineering, law, etc. a revolution that gave back the right to health to the people, to the poor, to the humble, a revolution that has special plans, and guarantees food to all the people so Venezuela is not in despair situation as some people try to portray and sell to abroad. We have problems, as any other country. We have economic problems of course we have. Do you have problems in the US? Do you have problems in the US? You have a huge debt, a colossal debt, as never, ever before. How come you have a huge fiscal deficit, you have increased in poverty in the US, an awful figure of poverty in the U.S. You had a very good level of life and now you have people in the streets without their houses. You have problems in the U.S. All countries have problems, social problems, economic problems, challenges. Venezuela has its own problems, but the problems that we dont have are the problems of poverty and culture that we had in the past and have been solved thanks to the effort that we have made over the last year
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MADURO: That is correct. And we have denounced this. Capitalism works in this manner. In Venezuela we are overcoming a capitalism that is dependent solely on rent, and that was very harmful for the exchange rate. I can give you a list. Very soon we are going to publish the list of the owner of companies, capitalists, that stole the money, the dollars, to, that we gave them to meet the needs, and they took the dollars and took it to the US. They have big mansions in the US. And we denounce that. They consider themselves political people, prisoners, etc. But I can tell you this, as a framework of question, because you are overwhelmed by information and you are in anguish with so much information. I can tell you this. over the last years, Venezuela has had... over the last 15 years, a process of expansion. We went from a GDP of 90 billion dollars to a GDP of 400 billion dollars, including last year. We were the target of economic war, because the right-wing sectors in Venezuela they thought that since President Chavez had died is was the end of the revolution. They started an operation to destroy our economy. And we have maintained even last year a programme of growth, of protection, Venezuela has
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MADURO: I can tell you something very simple. Go to the streets, talk to the workers Our children have public and free education guaranteed. In the United States, did you have a public education for the children or the youth in the US? No. Our people have public health guaranteed free of charge. Did you have that in the US? Our people have the higher minimum wage in the whole of Latino America. Our people have housing through a special process. Guaranteed housing we have given, and as soon as I finish this conversation were going to a special show of a Venezuelan housing programme. Were going to deliver 600,000 housing to people. There are going to be 3 million housing units to solve the deficit. Of the 180 million dollars that we have received over the last decades, we have invested 65% of the oil rent in education, housing, food, culture. Its another (inaudible). Thats what I told you when we started. Try to understand in the US. Try to understand a little bit that here we are building a different social economic model, different from yours. Try to open your mind to the dialogue of culture, of civilization. Try to understand what we are doing here is different.
Read more: http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/07/full-transcript-nicolas-maduro/
A must read for anyone who really wants to know what is going on in Venezuela.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)I almost c+p'd this here, but though I'd wait. I did post it in the Latin America group but only as a replies. It should give those hot heads there something to think about.
VZ has been the target of 'economic-hitmen' for a long time. Maduro is having to fight them as they use every available means short of 'shock and awe' to steal VZ's oil. VZ can hardly even get a loan against their oil reserves. While here in the US we live on borrowed money. VZ is not being treated fairly.
Chavez managed to beat down the 'economic-hitmen' and now that he has gone, the hitmen think they can regain their losses. But it appears Maduro is up to the task and will overcome!
Two US republican senators are foaming at the mouth hoping to get Obama to do an economic hit, while history shows covert US moves have made more than a few hits.
And there is this repulsive fact: Groups in the US are training VZ students on how to be hitmen when they go back home. I wonder who is paying the bill for that training?
Heh, here's a hot head reply already:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/110827262#post68
Zorra
(27,670 posts)grow and eventually blossom into a working model of a more humane and egalitarian system and society.
The revolution has wealthy, powerful enemies who want Venezuela's resources and control over the people. The last thing global RW/neoliberal capitalists want to see is a leftist revolution succeed in implementing a balanced egalitarian socialist system that serves the majority well, providing a high degree of well being and contentment for the overwhelming majority of citizens.
A working model socialist system that has risen out of the mess left by sociopathic global capitalists would be very damaging to the propaganda efforts of the 1% owned MSM.
The greedy 1% will never leave the people of Venezuela alone to evolve their own brand of socialism without the pressure of constant economic, social, and political sabotage, from within the country, and from outside the country. Venezuelan leaders will have to do their best to protect their people and resources from the pernicious interference of greedy global capitalists.
The global power of the financial centers is so great, that they can afford not to worry about the political tendency of those who hold power in a nation, if the economic program (in other words, the role that nation has in the global economic megaprogram) remains unaltered. The financial disciplines impose themselves upon the different colors of the world political spectrum in regards to the government of any nation. he great world power can tolerate a leftist government in any part of the world, as long as the government does not take measures that go against the needs of the world financial centers. But in no way will it tolerate that an alternative economic, political and social organization consolidate. For the megapolitics, the national politics are dwarfed and submit to the dictates of the financial centers. It will be this way until the dwarfs rebel...
Tarheel_Dem
(31,240 posts)We don't have public education in the US?
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)whatevah.
He made a small mistake, or maybe the transcript is mistaken?
But: does the US have free education all the way thru college? VZ does, iirc.
It is good that your read so closely, and so thoroughly, you now know more Truth about VZ than you ever did.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,240 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)In fact, while your country elected bush, his elected the most loved ever: Chavez. So what you know isn't worth spit to his people.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,240 posts)Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)I'm surprised he wasn't asked about his wild accusation that the US gave Chavez cancer via poisoning.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,240 posts)He's tried so desperately to co-opt Chavismo, but he just ain't Chavez. And apparently, as much as Venezuelans might hate the US, some of them ain't buying the "It's all Obama's fault" line of b.s.
Venezuela's poor join protests as turmoil grips Chávez's revolution
Government claims protests bear the hallmarks of US-backed coup plot led by jailed opposition leader Leopoldo López
Virginia López in Caracas and Jonathan Watts
The Guardian
The poor neighbourhood of Petare in western Caracas is not an obvious hotbed of anti-government sentiment. In the past, its residents have been among the major beneficiaries of Venezuela's public health and education campaigns, and an economic policy that resulted in one of the sharpest falls in inequality in the world.
But as demonstrations sweep several major cities, even the people of Petare have taken to the streets to protest again surging inflation, alarming murder rates and shortages of essential commodities.
Jorge Farias, a self-employed motorcycle taxi driver, once voted for the late president Hugo Chávez, but this week he joined opposition rallies. "This country can't stay like this for much longer. If it's not lack of food, it is the fear of being killed when you step out of your house to go to work", he said. "I would like to wake up without this fear," he added. "I have never seen this country in this state of total collapse. We are going from bad to worse, and we are losing faith".
"Ya esta bueno ya", is phrase which Venezuelans are hearing with increasing frequency. Roughly translated as "Enough already", the slogan captures a wide-spread sense of discontent and growing uncertainty over the country's future.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/20/venezuelas-poor-protests-chavez-revolution
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Peace Patriot (21,880 posts)
2. Thanks so much for posting this!
Lisa Sullivan makes two very important points at the end, that, a) the majority of Venezuelans have benefited from the Chavez/Maduro government with continued, dramatic improvements in educational opportunity, medical care, housing, good jobs/benefits and policies that encourage public participation and inclusiveness; and b) most Venezuelans--including most of the opposition--dislike the violence of the far right (trashing government buildings, public bus systems, etc.)--i.e., don't approve of destructive protests.
I think she also makes the point, early on, that the chavistas recently creamed the opposition in the municipal elections, in an election system that Jimmy Carter has called "the best in the world." THAT fact has to be weighed against the mass protests that have been organized by the USAID-funded/tutored rightwing opposition to exploit problems (street crime, and more recently, inflation and food shortages) that the Chavez/Maduro government has not yet solved. The Chavez/Maduro government has solved, or is solving, immense problems such as poverty, and the opposition has nothing to say to this--no reasonable platform--as Ryan Mallett-Outtrim points out. The chavistas are the only functioning, successful problem-solvers in the country. That's why they keep winning elections.
And yet another important point made in this report is that Maduro's RESPONSE to the protests has been to call for peace, and invited the opposition to a conference on resolving problems and differences through peaceful dialogue. Some opposition individuals and some notable opposition groups and businesses attended, though MUD (rightwing political party) boycotted the conference. I think that the MUD will pay for this at the ballot box in yet more electoral losses. Venezuelans may march in the streets on issues like street crime, inflation and shortages, but they do NOT want their bus systems and other public institutions trashed. They want problems to be solved, NOT more problems created.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101686820
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Archae
(46,345 posts)The only thing I could think of was "Nixon with a mustache."
Zorra
(27,670 posts)It was really a very informative, detailed interview with an important South American leader.
Archae
(46,345 posts)I see a sooner or later EX-South American leader, who will be exposed as being so corrupt he stinks on ice.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)is "so corrupt he stinks on ice"?
Thanks!
Archae
(46,345 posts)Either right-wing or left-wing authoritarians.
Demonize any critics or opposition.
Grant yourself (or get granted) sweeping powers of decree.
Blame failures or problems on handy-dandy bogeymen.
Create pro-government goon squads.
Censor media outlets.
And so on...
Here is a credible source about the very types of corruption of which you posted. Thanks to Luminous Animal for the info.
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Behind a firewall of impunity and protection from the State Department and the CIA, U.S. clients and puppets have engaged in the worst crimes known to man, from murder and torture to coups and genocide. The trail of blood from this carnage and chaos leads directly back to the steps of the U.S. Capitol and the White House. As historian Gabriel Kolko observed in 1988, The notion of an honest puppet is a contradiction Washington has failed to resolve anywhere in the world since 1945. What follows is a brief A to Z guide to the history of that failure.
http://www.salon.com/2014/03/08/35_countries_the_u_s_has_backed_international_crime_partner/
Logic dictates that it is prudent for my opinions to be based on several sources of corroborating credible information that has the highest probability of being factual. I also tend to seriously question any information presented to me by persons or organizations, such as the US MSM, that may somehow profit from influencing me into believing things that have little or no basis in reality.
In this way, the possibility of totally talking out of my ass about things I know little or nothing about is kept to a personal minimum.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)he still doesn't understand economics.